Storms bring flooding to central Nebraska, more showers coming
Posted: Sunday, May 25, 2008
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- A storm system that already dumped 7 inches of rain on some parts of Nebraska and sparked devastating tornadoes in other Midwestern states threatened to bring more of same heading into Sunday.
The National Weather Service extended several advisories for Nebraska through Saturday night, including a tornado watch for communities stretching between O'Neill and Beatrice to the east.
"We're kind of stuck in a pattern right now," said meteorologist Scott Bryant in the weather service's Hastings office.
He forecast more showers and thunderstorms for central Nebraska starting Saturday afternoon and continuing into Sunday.
The storm system first brought rain, hail and strong winds to the region on Thursday, lingering ever since. The storms have already caused flooding across parts of Nebraska, and lightning strikes were blamed for a few fires.
The weather service received reports Friday that a tornado near the Colorado-Nebraska line downed four power lines, snapped a fence and overturned a stock trailer. More devastating tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma, Kansas and elsewhere in Colorado.
"It's been a rough couple of days across the area," Bryant said.
He said most central Nebraska counties saw 3 to 5 inches of rain since the storms first rolled through Thursday. More was reported in Dawson and Gosper counties, with some communities getting 7 inches.
An emergency shelter was opened late Friday at a Lexington senior center after flooding basements forced the evacuation of several apartment buildings on the west edge of city.
In Farnam, volunteers spent much of Friday packing sandbags to put around a veterinary clinic that was threatened by flood waters. Residents in Elm Creek did the same, hoping to protect houses vulnerable to flooding in the town's northern reaches.
Street flooding was reported in several central Nebraska communities. A driver in Dawson County slid into a water-filled ditch Friday and had to abandon his car.
Officials in Cozad and Eustis were asking residents to limit their water usage as sewage treatment plants struggled with stormwater run-off.
Communities in the Panhandle appeared to be faring better. Jim House, based in the weather service's office in Cheyenne, Wyo., said Saturday that the only flooding reported was along Cottonwood Creek in Cheyenne County, where some water was crossing U.S. Highway 30 east of Sidney.
House said he didn't expect severe thunderstorms in the Panhandle Saturday night, but the area could see some showers and strong winds gusting 20 to 40 mph.
"It's blowing pretty good some places," he said.
Statewide, about 6,000 power customers were without electricity Friday night into Saturday.
Nebraska Public Power District spokesman Mark Becker said about 3,500 customers were down at various times, but all were back in service by 7 a.m. Saturday.
He said a substation problem between Table Rock and Dubois left roughly 1,600 customers in the dark in southeastern Nebraska. In the northwest, 800 customers lost power in Chadron.
Another 2,500 were without power in Lincoln, but the Lincoln Electric System said power was restored about 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
No widespread outages were reported by the Dawson Public Power District.
Lightning brought by the storms sparked house fires Friday in Nebraska City, Geneva, Arnold and Mills Valley. A sale barn was destroyed by fire Thursday in Loup City, and lightning was the suspected cause. No injuries were reported in any of those strikes.
The National Weather Service extended several advisories for Nebraska through Saturday night, including a tornado watch for communities stretching between O'Neill and Beatrice to the east.
"We're kind of stuck in a pattern right now," said meteorologist Scott Bryant in the weather service's Hastings office.
He forecast more showers and thunderstorms for central Nebraska starting Saturday afternoon and continuing into Sunday.
The storm system first brought rain, hail and strong winds to the region on Thursday, lingering ever since. The storms have already caused flooding across parts of Nebraska, and lightning strikes were blamed for a few fires.
The weather service received reports Friday that a tornado near the Colorado-Nebraska line downed four power lines, snapped a fence and overturned a stock trailer. More devastating tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma, Kansas and elsewhere in Colorado.
"It's been a rough couple of days across the area," Bryant said.
He said most central Nebraska counties saw 3 to 5 inches of rain since the storms first rolled through Thursday. More was reported in Dawson and Gosper counties, with some communities getting 7 inches.
An emergency shelter was opened late Friday at a Lexington senior center after flooding basements forced the evacuation of several apartment buildings on the west edge of city.
In Farnam, volunteers spent much of Friday packing sandbags to put around a veterinary clinic that was threatened by flood waters. Residents in Elm Creek did the same, hoping to protect houses vulnerable to flooding in the town's northern reaches.
Street flooding was reported in several central Nebraska communities. A driver in Dawson County slid into a water-filled ditch Friday and had to abandon his car.
Officials in Cozad and Eustis were asking residents to limit their water usage as sewage treatment plants struggled with stormwater run-off.
Communities in the Panhandle appeared to be faring better. Jim House, based in the weather service's office in Cheyenne, Wyo., said Saturday that the only flooding reported was along Cottonwood Creek in Cheyenne County, where some water was crossing U.S. Highway 30 east of Sidney.
House said he didn't expect severe thunderstorms in the Panhandle Saturday night, but the area could see some showers and strong winds gusting 20 to 40 mph.
"It's blowing pretty good some places," he said.
Statewide, about 6,000 power customers were without electricity Friday night into Saturday.
Nebraska Public Power District spokesman Mark Becker said about 3,500 customers were down at various times, but all were back in service by 7 a.m. Saturday.
He said a substation problem between Table Rock and Dubois left roughly 1,600 customers in the dark in southeastern Nebraska. In the northwest, 800 customers lost power in Chadron.
Another 2,500 were without power in Lincoln, but the Lincoln Electric System said power was restored about 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
No widespread outages were reported by the Dawson Public Power District.
Lightning brought by the storms sparked house fires Friday in Nebraska City, Geneva, Arnold and Mills Valley. A sale barn was destroyed by fire Thursday in Loup City, and lightning was the suspected cause. No injuries were reported in any of those strikes.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
